THE CONSPIRACY

King Joash

“The Lord directs the steps of the Godly, He delights in every detail of their lives.  Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Psalm 37:23-24 NLT

Once upon a time, there was a baby prince. His name was Joash and he lived in a large palace built by Solomon, called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. He had many brothers and sisters of which he was the youngest. He had a nurse who cared for him and loved him.   There were many servants to see to the prince’s every need. There was a grand nursery with many children and wonderful things to watch and play with. This little prince also had a very wicked grandmother.

Athaliah was the mother of the Ahaziah, king of Judah, who was Joash’s father. Athaliah encouraged her son, the king, to follow the ways of her very evil father, King Ahab of Israel.

“He (Ahaziah) did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Ahab’s family had done. They even became his advisers after the death of his father and they led him to ruin.” 2 Chron. 22:4

So after reigning only one year in Judah, the Southern kingdom, God decided that a visit to the king of Israel, Joram, son of Ahab, would be Ahaziah’s downfall. While in the capital city of Israel, Jezreel, Ahaziah was killed by Jehu who was appointed by God to destroy Ahab’s dynasty and become the next king of Israel the Northern Kingdom. (from 2 Chron. 22:6-7)

When Athaliah heard that her son was dead she systematically began to murder her grandchildren and the rest of Judah’s royal family. You might say she was not the grandmotherly type! This evil woman, caught in the clutches of Satan, ordered the execution of her own grandbabies! What crying was heard in the palace! The nurses and servants were horrified as the children they had loved and cared for since birth were ripped from their arms and carried off screaming to their execution.

All but one. Amongst all the crying and screaming and mayhem, Jehosheba, wife of the priest, Jehoiada, and sister of late king Ahaziah, slipped unnoticed into the nursery and grabbed the youngest child, baby Joash from his crib. Wrapping her robe around the infant, she beckoned to his nurse and the two women calmly walked out of the nursery of horror.

Jehosheba led the nurse down many corridors in the great palace and slipped silently into one of the hundreds of bedrooms where they would hide until a hidden apartment could be readied in the Temple of the Lord.

Jehosheba knew the temple of God was the last place Athaliah would look since she would not want to step foot into the worship place of the one true God whom she had rejected. So when it came time for prayers, brave Jehosheba carried baby Joash under her robe, with the nurse following, into an inner room in the temple where she would hide her nephew from her mother for 6 years.

Can you imagine going against your own mother in a conspiracy that would ultimately end in her death or yours? Taking a stand like that against evil took a lot of courage and strength, no doubt given to her and her husband by God.

Six years the baby would be kept in an inner room in the temple, probably with no windows, where his cries would never be heard. Can you imagine? A child who could not run free in a meadow of green grass or feel the fresh air on his face. He would not feel the strength of a powerful horse beneath his legs or run and play with a devoted puppy. Unless maybe they were able to slip him out now and then disguised as a peasant boy to run and play in the country. I would hope this is what happened. However if he resembled his father in any way he had to be completely kept out of sight of his evil grandmother, Athaliah, now Queen of Judah.

It seemed Athaliah was getting away with her dastardly deeds. You would think God would strike her dead immediately, but He didn’t. She reigned for 6 full years over Judah and did much evil in the sight of the Lord worshiping Baal and other false gods.

In the seventh year of Athaliah reign, Jehoiada, the priest decided to make his move. Summoning his courage, he made a pact with five army commanders, and together they carefully planned out the conspiracy against his mother-in-law the queen of Judah. The 5 commanders traveled secretly throughout the southern kingdom, Judah and summoned the Levites and clan leaders in all the towns to come to Jerusalem where they all gathered at the Temple of God.

Jehoiada led the 7 year old child, Joash out of the temple into the courtyard where all the people were gathered.

“Here is the king’s son!” He cried “The time has come for him to reign! The Lord has promised that a descendant of David will be our king.” Then he laid out the plan for the great take over.

The commanders took charge of the men and supplied them with spears and small shields that had once belonged to King David and had been stored in the Temple of the Lord. Perhaps the prince Joash had played amongst those very shields. Now they were being used to defend him as the palace guards formed a line around the boy with their weapons ready. Armed guards formed lines to the south and to the north of the Temple and around the altar.

All was ready. Jehoiada brought the young prince out of the Temple. Joash was clothed in purple robes of royalty and he held his head high. If you were to look in his eyes you would see a glint of grit and steel there, for the blood of his great, great, great, great grandfather King David ran strong in his veins.

With much pomp, Jehoiada placed the golden crown upon Joash’s head and presented him with the copy of God’s laws. They anointed him and proclaimed him King of Judah. The crowd broke into clapping and shouting, “Long Live the King!”

Meanwhile back at the palace, Athaliah, the wicked grandmother, heard the loud noise and she hurried over to the Temple. What she saw caused her frozen blood to run colder. There in the courtyard of the hated Temple was a very small boy wearing purple robes and a large golden crown, which tilted on his small head. The boy, who resembled her son, stood in the place of authority by the pillar as was the custom at times of coronation. Around him were many guards bristling with spears and holding shields. There were trumpeters and many people from all over the land who were rejoicing and blowing the trumpets.

In despair Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!”

Jehoiada ordered her to be seized and to kill anyone who tried to rescue her. She was a bad queen, not liked, I’m sure by her subjects, so no one made that attempt. The priest said she must not be killed in the Temple of the Lord so she was taken to a gate of the palace grounds and was killed there.

Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. Then all the people went over to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They demolished the altars and smashed the idols to pieces, then killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the leveled altars. No toleration there!

With this taken care of the guards and commanders escorted the king from the Temple of the Lord to the palace and King Joash took his seat on the royal throne. Which, I’m sure, dwarfed the small boy.

So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was peaceful because the wicked queen had been killed. Joash was seven years old when he became king.

I wish this story had a happy ever after ending. But unfortunately it does not. Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight throughout the lifetime of the priest Jehoiada. He did many good things, he restored the Temple of God and all the items of worship that had been stolen. He followed God and worshiped Him with burnt offerings and sacrifices during the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest, who must have been like a father to the young king.

However when Jehoiada died at the age of 130, the leaders of Judah were able to persuade the king to abandon the Temple of the Lord. So King Joash led the people to worship Asherah idols instead of the God of their ancestors.

The anger of the Lord fell on Judah and Jerusalem because of this sin. However the Lord sent prophets to warn them and bring them back to Him, but the people would not listen.

Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, the priest and he stood before the leaders and said, “This is what God says: “Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the Lord and now He has abandoned you!” 2 Chron. 24:20 NLT

The leaders and King Joash, the brave boy king who at one time stood tall for God, ordered Zechariah stoned to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. The very place Zechariah’s father had defied Joash’s wicked grandmother, risking his life to make a stand for God and crown Joash king.

Not long after that, the Aramean army marched against Joash. They invaded Judah with a small army and killed all the leaders of the nation.

“Although the Arameans attacked with only a small army, the Lord helped them conquer the much larger army of Judah. The people of Judah had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so judgment was carried out against Joash.” 2 Chron. 24:24

Joash was severely wounded. But his own officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada. He was assassinated in his own bed.

His life was saved by a conspiracy and he was taken out by a conspiracy.

“With blinding speed and power the Lord destroys the strong, crushing all their defenses!” (from Amos 5:10 NLT)

So the child king, Joash, who started out so strong and brave, who was brought up in the mentorship of a godly priest, who was saturated with God’s laws and word, ended up almost as evil as the grandmother who killed all of his family. What happened?

Sin is what happened. He abandoned his God. He turned his back on the very God who had saved His life. You might say, he was young, he was led astray, he was left without guidance and was persuaded. Yes he was, but he had a choice and he chose to turn his back and walk away from the God of the Universe.

God in His righteousness brought judgment on Joash and upon the nation of Judah. This happened time and time again with Judah, who did have a few Godly kings. Out of 20 kings in over 300 years, there were SIX kings who were righteous in the sight of the Lord! Six! Fourteen kings did evil in the sight of the Lord.

In Israel, the Northern Kingdom there were 19 kings in 250 years. How many were godly? NONE! God sent judgment on Israel in the form of enemies overcoming them and oppressing them time and time again. For 250 years God was patient and He sent many prophets to warn Israel to turn back to their God.

Through the prophet Amos, during Uzziah’s reign in Judah, two generations after Joash God, warned His people:

“I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town, but still you would not return to Me, says the Lord.

            I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field while another field withered away.

            I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees.

            But still you would not return to Me, says the Lord.

            I sent plagues on you, like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago.

            I killed your men in war and led your horses away. The stench of death filled the air!

            But still you would not return to me, says the Lord.

            Therefore I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced.

            Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!” Amos 4:6-12 NLT

Finally, His patience was no more and He sent the Assyrians to defeat them and take all the people except for a few poor farmers into exile to a far away land. And the Northern kingdom of Israel was no more. A little later God also sent judgment on Judah when the Babylonians captured them and took them into exile.

So I ask you, is God the same today?

Is God still a just God?

If you read the prophets you will see many more such warnings to both Israel and Judah that ring very true for America today. Still through Amos, the shepherd prophet, God said:

“How you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth!

            Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live!

            Hate evil and love what is good, turn your courts in to halls of justice!

            I hate all your show of pretense the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.

            Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps!

            Instead I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of RIGHTEOUS LIVING!

            What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem, and you who feel secure in Samaria

            You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.

            You drink wine by the bowlful and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions.

            You care nothing about the ruin of your nation!

            Therefore you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly all your parties will end.” (from Amos 5-6 NLT)

Does this sound familiar?

I ask you again, Is God the same today?

Could we not put the United States in the place of Israel and Judah in these passages?

I believe this is a warning to our nation. We need to become a “Nation under God,” once again. We need to follow God and only the God of Heaven’s Armies as a nation. Our people need to have Godly values and strong moral beliefs. We need to get back to the word of God and follow His truths, not every whim of the world. We need to have prayer back in schools and teach our children about the one true God. We need to stop worshiping other gods, bowing to idols and putting technology, gadgets, tv, wealth and other things before our God. We need to stop the lies and deceit, and the dishonest judicial system. God calls for a “FLOOD OF JUSTICE” across our nation!

We as a nation need to listen to the warnings of our God. We need to pray like we have never prayed before. We need to stand before our God in repentance. We need to stand for our God in defiance to sin.

O people of Israel (America) I am about to bring an enemy nation against you says the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. They will oppress you throughout your land.” Amos 6:14 NLT

This also speaks to me and you as individuals. We need to examine ourselves and ask God to purify our hearts and lives. Are we just singing empty songs and noisy hymns? Are we hypocrites with our religious doings that mean nothing? Are we going to church and saying the right words but only for show and pretense? Are we spending the rest of the week trying to get back at our fellow American? Are we drinking much wine and having parties instead of living in righteousness? Are we worshiping idols and putting other things before our God?

“The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose Him and He continues to rage against His enemies.

            The Lord is slow to get angry, but His power is great! He never lets the guilty go unpunished.” Nahum 1:2-3 NLT

Do not be deceived! God is the same today as He was yesterday. He is a loving God, yes, He is a patient God, but He is also a just God. He can not tolerate sin for long. He waits for hearts to turn to Him, but He will not wait forever.

He says in Amos 9:9-10 “For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one TRUE kernel will be lost.

            But all sinners will die by the sword—all those who say ‘Nothing bad will happen to us’.

            In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory.”

            This is a bleak message, is it not? The prophets go on and on with doom and gloom, do they not? But wait, there is a glimmer of hope! There is light in the darkness. Jesus is the Light! Jesus is our hope. He gives the gift of Eternal life. Not something hoped for, which is just out of our reach, but something to grasp and depend upon.

            By His shed blood, His sacrifice of His life on the cross, Jesus brought about a way for us to have a close relationship with our God once again. A way for us black sinners to be made pure and as clean as white snow by believing in Jesus as our Savior and Lord of our life.

Believing is not just believing it is true, or that God exists. Beleiving is clinging to, trusting completely, relying on totally, leaning on, and following Him with all of your life. Making Him the focus of your days. Following Him with all your life. Loving Him with all your heart.

It is time to make a choice. The time for wavering is done! There is no more fence to walk. You will be either for God or against God. Like Joash you must make your choice. And like Joash, if you choose to go against God, you will pay the price.

“Not one TRUE kernel will be lost.” But those against God will die, the death of the soul, which is separation from God and torment for ever and ever.

Jesus says, “Look! I stand at the door, of your heart, and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

            Those who are victorious will sit with Me on My throne, just as I was victorious and sat with My Father on His throne.” (from Rev. 3:20-21 NLT)

“Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever.

For the Lord loves justice, and He will never abandon the Godly.”

Psalm 37:27-28NLT

From 2 Chronicles 22-24 2 Kings 9-12 NLT

Note:  I am sorry if this offends anyone. I wrote something completely different for the lesson to this story, but I felt a check in posting it. The thought, “this is not what I want you to say,” kept coming to my mind. So I prayed about it many days and this is what I feel God led me to write. So if it offended you or if I stepped on toes, maybe you need to sit up and take notice of your relationship with God. Or maybe there is someone else you know who needs to hear this message.

It made me stop and think, “Am I doing what God would have me to do? Am I living the way God wants me to live? Are there rivers of Righteousness flooding my life? Every day we need to pray and ask God what He wants us to do for that day. And ask Him to help us live righteously. Not weeks ahead but for that day.